The problem exists in military communities across the country, but is acute at Ontario's Canadian Forces Base Petawawa where a spike in cases was noted after troops returned from Operation Athena in Afghanistan in 2007.

Military police documented the trend in a 2008 report that was not released, but that CBC News has obtained through Access to Information.

In the report, the independent police service notes a five-fold jump in reported cases of domestic violence after Operation Athena, when Canada's role in Afghanistan changed and troops experienced ongoing casualties.

Recommendations included reviewing psychological services for soldiers and their families. But the study was shelved.

The Canadian Forces say although that may be possible, there isn't any concrete proof the two are linked.

"We found, unfortunately, some methodological flaws in the way some of that military police data was collected and analyzed," said Col. Jean-Robert Bernier, Deputy Surgeon General with the Canadian Forces.

That dismissal angers some families struggling with domestic violence in the aftermath of service in Afghanistan, who say they feel abandoned by the military.

Afghanistan changed father of four

More than a quarter of Canadian Forces troops return with some kind of "operational stress injury" or psychological problem — ranging from anxiety and depression to substance abuse.

Among those psychologically wounded, one in six will develop PTSD, a condition that triggers recurring feelings of intense, prolonged fright, flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, insomnia and aggression.

Roger Perreault is one of them.

"Ever since I've come back, I feel like I've lost everything, employment, life as a whole," says Perreault, a Warrant Officer in the Canadian Infantry based in Petawawa.

The father of four developed PTSD after he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, where he was severely injured by an improvised explosive device, and watched friends die.

His symptoms include insomnia, a short temper and nightmares. He has attacked his wife Fran in the middle of the night.